GoKawiilis a senior reporter covering technology, gaming, and more. He joined The Verge in 2019 after nearly two years at Techmeme.
For the last couple weeks, I’ve been in an extremely lucky position: I’ve been spending a lot of time playing games on Valve’s Steam Machine.
We gave the Steam Machine a 6, and I don’t disagree with my colleague Sean Hollister’s review. But even though I already own a PS5 and an Xbox Series X, and even though I’ve experienced the Steam Machine’s drawbacks for myself, I would spend the $1,049 to buy one right now.
My PS5 and Xbox Series X can’t play the hundreds of games in my growing Steam library, don’t support Steam’s cloud saves that let me seamlessly carry progress between my Steam Deck and Steam Machine, don’t support my beloved Steam Controller, and don’t let me use mods to tweak my games exactly the way I like. (Those consoles are also just plain gargantuan compared to Valve’s diminutive box.) Compared to the Steam Deck, games look better, they play more smoothly, and I don’t hear a fan blowing all the way from my couch.
The Xbox towers over Valve’s box. Photo: Kelsey McClellan / The Verge
Since getting a Steam Deck a few years ago, I’ve shifted most of my gaming to Valve’s handheld, where I often play hooked up to my TV. So I figured Valve-made hardware specifically for playing games on my TV would be right up my alley, but I was a little worried after I read Sean’s review. The Steam Machine’s drawbacks are many: It’s really expensive, it competes with six-year-old console hardware, and you can’t upgrade its GPU to make games look better down the line.
And yet, I’m obsessed with how easily Valve’s tiny 6-inch cube fits into my TV console, my desk, and my life.
The Steam Machine is basically silent: I can’t think of a single time I’ve heard the Steam Machine while playing games. Not with Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade, not with 007 First Light, and especially not with Balatro. It, naturally, works great with Valve’s Steam Controller, which I’ve already sung the praises of in my review. I can put it basically wherever I want in my TV cabinet — unlike my PS5 and Xbox Series X, which I have to stuff into one cabinet that can’t fit much else. I’ve also plopped it on my desk a few times and hooked it up to a monitor, and I love that I don’t have to entirely rearrange my small desk to make that work.
The Steam Machine has quickly turned into my ideal way to play games on my TV. It boots up fast with the press of a button, plays nicely with my Sonos Beam soundbar, and lets me jump right into a game in a matter of seconds. So do the Steam Deck, PS5, and Xbox Series X sitting under my TV. But I haven’t missed any of them in my two weeks with the Steam Machine.
What I did miss was a reservation to actually purchase the Steam Machine. I signed up, but I didn’t get picked. I’ll be sad to pack the Steam Machine up and return it to Sean for further testing, especially when there’s no timeline for when I might get off Valve’s waitlist.
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